This September, Na’ama Zisser will become the second Doctoral Composer-in-Residence at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The studentship leads to a doctoral degree and is a collaboration between the conservatory and the Royal Opera House.

The residency is three years long and provides the composer time to research and write a major work, which will be staged by The Royal Opera at the end of the placement.

‘I'm extremely excited about this unusual opportunity to focus on what I'm interested in within opera and modern storytelling, creating a work that is very personal to me', said Na'ama. 'It's quite rare to have the time to reflect and research, work at my own pace, and have mentorship, support and resources. This will have an enormous impact on my own creative development and the work produced.’

As Doctoral Composer-in-Residence, Na’ama have both professional and academic mentors. This year, Head of Composition at the Guildhall School, Professor Julian Philips will partner with Associate Director of Opera for The Royal Opera, John Fulljames, to offer support.

When she takes on the role in September, Na’ama will replace Philip Venables, the first composer to be awarded the studentship. His opera 4.48 Psychosis – the first operatic adaptation of a work by Sarah Kane – will have its premiere performances at the Lyric Hammersmith in May 2016.

The Doctoral Composer-in-Residence is fully funded by the Guildhall School and is supported by the Royal Opera House.

The Guildhall School offers an MA in Opera Making and Writing in association with the Royal Opera House. Launched in 2014. This full-time, one-year Masters programme allows composers and writers to focus on how new opera is created, developed and performed.

The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is provided by the City of London Corporation.

It was the melody that soundtracked the callusing of two hundred million thumbs: in June 1984, iconic pixellated puzzler Tetris was released, and quickly became the biggest selling game of all time. The world immediately went button-bashing mad, with Tetris fans' on-screen exploits accompanied by the electronic blips of Russian folk tune Korobeiniki. Before the mid-1980s, Korobeiniki's melody was unknown outside the USSR, but as Tetris-fever took hold worldwide during the era of glasnost,Korobeiniki would become the ditty that launched an entire genre – that of video game soundtracks. 'It was very embarrassing for me', creator Alexey Pajitnov remembered 30 years later. 'When kids of the world hear these pieces of music, they start screaming: "Tetris! Tetris!". That's not very good for Russian culture.' To add further insult to injury, the later NES release of Tetris would pillage a far loftier example of Russian music – Tchaikovsky's 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy' from The Nutcracker.

In the 1980s videogame boom, programmers were falling over themselves to soundtrack their 8-bit creations with chiptuned arrangements of western classical music. In suburban arcades, Mario Bros. blared out the first movement of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik as gamers frenziedly scrambled for the next fist-full of change; Atari's Battlezone offered an earsplitting rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture to those whose initials graced the hallowed 'hall of fame' screen. Even the baroque strains of J.S. Bach got a digital makeover — his Toccata and Fugue in D minor fizzed and fuzzed in the background of Battle of Olympus. Aside from programmers indulging their personal music tastes, there were practical reasons why programmers turned to classical music: turning to out-of-copyright works saved already slender budgets, phrases or motifs from classical music could easily be turned into memory-saving loops, and using pre-existing music ultimately saved time (at a premium in the rush-'em-out boom of this era).

It's against this backdrop that some young classical composers are beginning to draw upon videogames for new works performed in concert halls and opera houses. Award-winning composer Matt Rogers (aka Gameshow Outpatient) is one example. Matt has released an album and EP of chiptune music, and his new opera The Virtues of Things incorporates subtle references to videogame music within an orchestral framework:

'I developed a lot of the rhythmic and gestural language in my classical music while writing chiptune music. I was inspired by my love of early computer games, specifically those for the ZX Spectrum', he says. 'Tim Follin's soundtrack to a game called Chronos had a profound effect on me – the ZX Spectrum didn't output its sound through the TV speaker like modern consoles, but through a tiny speaker under the front edge of the machine. I spent many hours with the whole computer held up to my ear so I could hear the music better!'

With the videogame starting to be accepted as an art form, it stands to reason that – just as opera and classical music have historically been influenced by other art forms including visual art and literature – the art of the future may draw creative inspiration from games. Now, what would Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov make of that?

As part of our monthly series of recommended recordings from the Royal Opera House Shop, this month we take a look at releases from two great singers and a conductor with strong connections to the Royal Opera House.

With 2013 being Verdi's bicentenary, the recordings keep coming. None however, are going to touch Pavarotti sings Verdi for sheer class, élan and the sheer joy of singing. Decca had raided the vaults for this generous three–disc release, all taken from the great tenor’s recordings made over the course of his career. Partnered in duet and ensemble by a host of the great names of 20th-century opera, Pavarotti is featured in extended extracts from 11 operas, and you can start at disc one or dip in and out as you prefer. We tend to forget the real Pavarotti that was there before – and after – the hype. Here he sings with unfailing beauty of tone, musical intelligence and – importantly – an emotional connect that is the preserve of the great singer. At the price of one disc, and with lavish packaging, you needn’t think twice.

Sir Colin Davis will be sorely missed, but we have a valedictory recording from him to cherish. Taken from concerts at the Barbican with his beloved LSO, his recording of Weber’s Der Freischütz has just appeared. It’s a very fine closing document to a great career – the LSO feels and plays this music as well as any orchestra, with a deeply committed and fully romantic approach that is truly lovely to hear. The cast are up to the task and with this great opera hopelessly under represented in the catalogue, this is well worth adding to your collection.

As Verdi and Wagner are celebrated for their 200 years, so our own Benjamin Britten celebrates his 100. Ian Bostridge, surely the true heir to Peter Pears, takes on a large slice of Britten’s song output in his new CD, Britten Songs. Accompanied for the most part by Antonio Pappano, he traverses among other songs the great Michelangelo Sonnets. The voice may have lost a little of its previous youthful ardour, but this is daring and exquisite artistry, with Bostridge and Pappano a meeting of equals searching for a musical truth. For the last six songs – Songs from the Chinese – Bostridge is hauntingly accompanied by the guitar of Xuefei Yang. This takes my vote as recording of the month – don’t miss it.

The Royal Opera House is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Colin Davis, who was Music Director of The Royal Opera (1971–86), Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1995–2006) and President of the LSO from 2007.

'The loss of Colin Davis for the Royal Opera House is a huge blow. We had future plans with him in place but more importantly, his passing represents an end of an era, where grit, toil, vision and energy were the defining elements of a leading international opera house.The warmth and excitement of his music-making will be terribly missed. He was a giant. A very sad moment for British music.'

President of the LSO and Honorary Conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle, Colin Davis recorded extensively for leading companies, including the LSO Live Label. Recent engagements with The Royal Opera included Così fan tutte (2012), Le nozze di Figaro(2010) and Die Zauberflöte(2011). His many awards included a knighthood (1980), Companion of Honour (2001) and the Queen’s Medal for Music (2009).

David McVicar’s production of Die Zauberflöte opens tomorrow night (Tuesday 16 April 2013) at the Royal Opera House, and the run will be dedicated to the memory of Sir Colin Davis.